Tenmile man grouses about paying medical bills for woman he tried to kill

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A Tenmile man who clubbed a woman with a baseball bat and left her to die alongside a rural road reluctantly agreed Tuesday to pay the victim’s medical bills.

Marcus Anthony Toler, 50, has been in Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla since pleading no contest in April to attempted murder and kidnapping and being sentenced to 7½ years in prison.

Restitution to the victim has remained unresolved.

On Monday, Toler appeared in Douglas County Circuit Court by phone and balked at paying the victim’s $124,623 in medical bills.

Toler was back on the phone Tuesday and asked his defense attorney, David Hall, whether the restitution agreement meant the victim couldn’t sue him for more money.

“No one can come at me privately after I deal with this restitution? This covers any bills out there? Is that correct?” Toler asked.

Hall said he couldn’t guarantee that. “This doesn’t protect you from private lawsuits,” he said. “This is only through the state.”

District Attorney Rick Wesenberg agreed this was the end of the case for prosecutors. “We have no more to do with this,” he said.

Toler, who was agitated during the hearing, said he already compensated the victim, though he didn’t specify when or how much. Hall said he was unsure what compensation Toler meant.

The court recessed so Hall could speak to Toler privately.

When the court resumed, Hall said Toler agreed to make restitution and understood the state would not seek further restitution.

It’s unclear whether the victim will ever receive any money. Deputy District Attorney Shannon Sullivan said in an interview she did not know how Toler would make payments and that the district attorney’s office doesn’t track restitution payments.

Even if paid, the restitution would not cover the victim’s medical bills, Sullivan said.

Hall said restitution was “significantly lower than the number that was originally submitted to us.”

Toler was arrested in May 2012 for kicking an ex-girlfriend in the head during an early morning dispute.

Toler was held in the Douglas County Jail for more than a month, according to court records.

While Toler was in jail, another woman took care of Toler’s affairs and lived at his house. Toler suspected the woman had stolen his bank card and spent about $3,000.

During an argument, Toler hit the woman in the head with a baseball bat, wrapped her in an inflatable pool and put her in a pickup.

A logger on his way to work at about 3 a.m. Sept. 19 found a bloody trail that led to the 53-year-old woman in the middle of Reston Road southwest of Roseburg. The woman was breathing but unconscious.

She was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, then flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, where she remained in a coma for several days while investigators tried to learn who she was and how she was injured.

The woman suffered a skull fracture, brain bleeding and lacerations. Prosecutors said the victim had severe memory loss and little recollection of the attack.

Several people who knew Toler contacted police. One was a co-worker of Toler’s ex-wife, to whom he reportedly confessed days after the assault, prosecutors said.

Toler was questioned but denied the story. He claimed to have last seen the woman when she packed up her belongings and left his house after an argument.

Police said they found a bloody mattress and pillowcases on property owned by one of Toler’s friends.

Toler was arrested in October 2012. He maintained his innocence until he accepted a plea deal, which included pleading no contest to misdemeanor assault for kicking his ex-girlfriend.

• Reporter Jessica Prokop can be reached at 541-957-4209 and jprokop@nrtoday.com. Reporter Betsy Swanback contributed to this report.